Popular Woodworking Magazine: This week I was in the shop working on an upcoming magazine article. On the case back there are two dados that locate and hold the drawer dividers of the project. For me, that generally means I pick up my router and get busy. This time, because I needed two matching slots, I decided one would be router-cut and for the second I would use hand tools. Is one method better than the other?
3 comments:
Although both methods are equally valid, and both have their advantages, one may be more precise and the other may be easier to work with in a repetitive fashion for multiple dados. I think it is important to understand the pros and cons of both methods, and be able to utilize both in different situations. However i would not think that building half a project with a electric router and half with hand tools is a good quality control measure.
I’m always amazed by the quality of work from professional woodworks. I wish that in the entertainment industry we had the time and money to use slick joinery and great hardwoods. With the exception being the properties department, I can’t think of a good reason anybody would need to cut a dado by hand. Even in props, cutting a dado by hand seems inefficient.
That doesn’t mean that I think that this is a useless skill. I think everybody should know how to cut a dovetail by hand, or mortise out a hinge without a router.
I think this is very similar to CAD vs. Hand Drafting. CAD is just a tool for drafting. If you don’t know how to draft, you won’t ever be a master at CAD. If you don’t know how to chisel out a mortise, you won’t ever really appreciate the usefulness of a router.
This being said, time is money.
I find that choosing a process often comes down to a few variables - what's your end result, how many do you have to make, what's your deadline, what tools do you have are your disposal, and multiple others...
In a theatrical shop, I think it's rare that we would cut a dado by hand, unless a show requires finely crafted furniture that must be fabricated traditionally, or someone decides that it's Amish Day in the shop. Why? Well, I don't think that the appropriate tools to do the job well are available (but a router is almost always in the tool cage), the labored isn't skilled or experienced enough, and time. Now, he said that the difference in time between the two techniques wasn't considerable, but often in a theatrical shop every minute counts, especially if you're getting paid.
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